Burnside Bridge

ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD - A Washington County gem recently appeared in a two-page automotive ad in The New Yorker magazine. Audi shot an ad in front of Burnside Bridge at Antietam National Battlefield. The shooting was around 6 a.m., before the park opened to the public, Battlefield Superintendent John Howard said. A special use permit is required for commercial photography at the battlefield, Howard said. Audi paid administrative costs so the ad setup didn't cost the battlefield anything nor did the battlefield make money on the ad. Audi was permitted to have a car driven onto a pedestrian path near the bridge, but a request to have the car on the bridge was denied, Howard said.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com Before the vigilant eyes of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Dave Felice and Debbie Miller wed Saturday at Antietam National Battlefield. Felice, 43, is a captain in the regiment of re-enactors. Miller, 46, is the civilian coordinator. They dressed their parts - Felice in a blue military uniform, Miller in a white hoop dress. Fay Shaffer of Hagerstown - a minister with the Universal Life Church of Modesto, Calif. - summoned 140 years of history as she bound the Civil War buffs in matrimony at the foot of Burnside Bridge.

Ad recruits Antietam in battle for tourism By SCOTT BUTKI scottb@herald-mail.com Above : Re-enactors are shown in a clip from a Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development television commercial featuring Antietam National Battlefield as an enticement for tourism. Below : Tourists ask Union soldiers to stop the action in the Battle of Antietam in a Maryland tourism commercial. A television commercial filmed at Antietam National Battlefield in October 2000 has begun airing nationally.

The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau is welcoming several dozen journalists to Washington County. Every year, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) organizes a tour for the National Press Club's travel program. This year, the group is planning to visit Antietam National Battlefield. On June 17, approximately 50 journalists will tour Antietam, led by historian and author Garry Adelman. Their tour will include stops at the Visitor Center, the Dunker Church, the Cornfield, Bloody Lane and Burnside Bridge.

andreabh@herald-mail.com Armed with trash bags and handsaws, history buffs and nature lovers combated trash and weeds at Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg on Saturday. The Civil War Preservation Trust launched the Park Day preservation event to help local communities maintain and restore their Civil War-related battlefields, cemeteries and shrines, according to information from the organization. National Park Service rangers at Antietam National Battlefield have participated in the nationwide event for about six years, Ranger Debbie Cohen said.

If you want to digest Civil War history, Antietam National Battlefield is one of the best places to do it in Washington County. But there's something to remember when visiting a battlefield: Without a story, it's just a big plot of land with endless trees, rows of corn, wheat fields, and a few farm buildings and churches. You need some sort of guidance on the field. There's more than one way to tell the story of the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War and the National Park Service at Antietam takes several approaches.

It was uncomfortable to think of a weapon as beautiful. But that was the case for the Civil War-era firearm that Jennifer Smith, assistant curator at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, held gingerly in her gloved palm. Smith gave The Herald-Mail a preview of a few items that will be part of the museum's Civil War-themed exhibit "The Unwritten War: A Visual Story of the Civil War," which opens Saturday, Aug. 15, and continues into March. "The Unwritten War," commemorates the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, though it aims to offer a less romantic visual depiction of what war was like.

Feds to fund Antietam farm fixup The National Park Service plans to spend $3.7 million to restore three historic farmsteads at Antietam National Battlefield. Battlefield Superintendent John Howard said Wednesday the restoration work should stabilize the homes for the next 75 to 100 years. "I can't express enough how good we feel about this," Howard said. "It will provide a whole new look of interpretation for our park visitors about the people who lived here before and after the battle.

By GUY FLETCHER Staff Writer SHARPSBURG - Dry weather conditions this year in Maryland have claimed an unusual victim - a scene in a documentary about the Battle of Antietam. Because of insufficient rainfall, corn planted for the Antietam documentary now being being filmed on and near the battlefield did not grow high enough to be used to re-enact the cornfield portion of the battle. Instead, the crew will shoot the scene at a cornfield in Michigan that was planted specifically as a back-up location in case there were problems with the local corn, said Brad Graham, whose Lansing, Mich.

Work on future museum under way SHARPSBURG - A committee reported to the Sharpsburg Town Council on Monday that restoration work on the former Antietam railroad station west of town is progressing. Workers are sealing the outside of the building, which they will use as a museum, and pricing burglar alarm systems. The committee president told the council the alarm will be useful when the building holds valuable artifacts and other items. Workers soon will begin patching a hole in the roof, and priming and painting the outside of the building.

One person was taken to the hospital after a dump truck accident in front of 19107 Burnside Bridge Road Wednesday morning, Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Timothy Atwell. The accident happened when the driver of the dump truck, heading southbound on Burnside Bridge Road, went off the road slightly, overcorrected, and then hit the guardrail and slammed into a tree on the other side of the road, Atwell said. The driver of the vehicle was taken by a friend to Meritus Medical Center, Atwell said.

SHARPSBURG - Vernell and Tim Doyle didn't ask to compile "Images of America: Sharpsburg," but at the publisher's request, they dove into the project. They asked around town for historical photos they could borrow and scan. They did research at Antietam National Battlefield's library, the Washington County Historical Society and Washington County Free Library's Western Maryland Room. "Good thing we're not shy, because we did get on the telephone and found, I guess you could say, a generous response for the most part," said Vernell Doyle, who recently became president of the Sharpsburg Historical Society.

It was uncomfortable to think of a weapon as beautiful. But that was the case for the Civil War-era firearm that Jennifer Smith, assistant curator at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, held gingerly in her gloved palm. Smith gave The Herald-Mail a preview of a few items that will be part of the museum's Civil War-themed exhibit "The Unwritten War: A Visual Story of the Civil War," which opens Saturday, Aug. 15, and continues into March. "The Unwritten War," commemorates the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, though it aims to offer a less romantic visual depiction of what war was like.

ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD - On Sept. 17, 1862, two Union regiments under the command of Gen. Ambrose Burnside charged down a rocky hillside to capture the stone bridge below - a feat that took several attempts over the course of 3 1/2 hours. It will probably take about 10 to 15 minutes for visitors to Antietam National Battlefield to travel halfway up a new trail in the park to see the modern view of what Burnside saw before that charge. That particular view of what became Burnside Bridge hasn't been seen by many people, Park Ranger Brian Baracz said.

Claiming territory Roommates Meg Sholty and Janine Kerns of Hagerstown hauled blue tarps up a hill alongside the visitors center at Antietam National Battlefield on Saturday morning to reserve their spot for the evening's activities. Many other spectators had the same idea, as the field behind the center already was patched with blankets and tarps by about 11:30 a.m., hours before the 7:30 p.m. start of the 21st annual Salute to Independence. The Maryland Symphony Orchestra was scheduled to perform first, followed by fireworks.

The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau is welcoming several dozen journalists to Washington County. Every year, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) organizes a tour for the National Press Club's travel program. This year, the group is planning to visit Antietam National Battlefield. On June 17, approximately 50 journalists will tour Antietam, led by historian and author Garry Adelman. Their tour will include stops at the Visitor Center, the Dunker Church, the Cornfield, Bloody Lane and Burnside Bridge.

Editor's Note: The Washington County Commissioners have designated this week as Washington County History Week. To celebrate the week, The Herald-Mail is publishing a five-part series written by local historians about the events, people and products that shaped the county. Washington County experienced hostile action and military occupation during every year of the Civil War, from 1861 through 1865. From early skirmishes in December 1861 at Fort Frederick and in and around Hancock, to the South Mountain and Antietam campaign of 1862, to the numerous bloody skirmishes and running battles during the Confederates' retreat from Gettysburg in July 1863, to the ransoming of Hagerstown in 1864 and other Confederate raids and forays, Washington County played a pivotal role during the war. While situated far from other major fighting arenas of the Civil War, there was one battle - the bloodiest day of them all - that was the most pivotal to the war's outcome.

In Stephen W. Sears' 1985 book, "Landscape Turned Red," the Battle of Antietam is described in great detail. In it we learn about the events of Sept. 17, 1862 when over 23,000 Americans became casualties during terrible carnage that was wrought in a single day. In its aftermath, the earth was turned in order to bury the dead, some with care and dignity, others haphazardly. It is a place where we can go and contemplate the event and only attempt to understand what it was like - a place where it will always be that September day. Beyond the park boundaries today a new battle is raging as the earth is being turned once again.

If you want to digest Civil War history, Antietam National Battlefield is one of the best places to do it in Washington County. But there's something to remember when visiting a battlefield: Without a story, it's just a big plot of land with endless trees, rows of corn, wheat fields, and a few farm buildings and churches. You need some sort of guidance on the field. There's more than one way to tell the story of the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War and the National Park Service at Antietam takes several approaches.

Work on future museum under way SHARPSBURG - A committee reported to the Sharpsburg Town Council on Monday that restoration work on the former Antietam railroad station west of town is progressing. Workers are sealing the outside of the building, which they will use as a museum, and pricing burglar alarm systems. The committee president told the council the alarm will be useful when the building holds valuable artifacts and other items. Workers soon will begin patching a hole in the roof, and priming and painting the outside of the building.